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EVERYTOWN PLEDGES TO SPEND UPWARDS OF $1.8 MILLION ON 2021 VIRGINIA ELECTIONS
This Weekend, Moms Demand Action Founder Shannon Watts Will Campaign Across Virginia With McAuliffe, Ayala, and Herring
Gun Sense Majority Was Elected In 2019 With Significant Everytown Support, And Led To Passage of Several Landmark Gun Safety Laws
RICHMOND, Va. – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund today announced that it will spend upwards of $1.8 million in the 2021 Virginia elections to elect Terry McAuliffe as Governor, elect Hala Ayala as Lieutenant Governor, re-elect Attorney General Mark Herring, and re-elect a gun sense majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. Everytown’s 2021 Virginia program will include television, digital and direct mail, designed to reach voters where they are. Everytown is also mobilizing its grassroots army of nearly 300,000 Virginia Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action supporters to communicate directly with voters about the stakes on gun safety in this election.
“Everytown played a key role in electing a gun sense majority to Richmond, and we’ll be on the frontlines of defending that majority in 2021,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Virginian voters gave lawmakers a mandate to take bold action on gun safety, and now Glenn Youngkin and the Republicans want to roll it all back — which is why we’re going all out to elect gun sense lawmakers in November. As Virginia votes, the nation often follows, so our investments in the Commonwealth will set the stage for electing gun sense champions across the country in the 2022 midterms.”
“Since the 2019 election, Virginia’s gun sense trifecta has continually prioritized public safety over profits for gun manufacturers — and our grassroots volunteers are fired up to elect even more gun sense candidates, including our own volunteers, to build on our legislative successes,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We’ve defeated the gun lobby so often in Virginia that the NRA is now talking about dismantling its headquarters and fleeing the state entirely. Our dominance in Virginia shows gun safety is a winning issue in red, blue and purple states.”
“Gun safety is on the ballot again in Virginia and there couldn’t be a clearer choice for voters,” said Charlie Kelly, Senior Political Advisor for Everytown for Gun Safety. “From now through the election, we’ll mobilize our grassroots army and communicate directly with voters about the stakes in these elections.”
This weekend, Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts will campaign across Virginia with Terry McAuliffe, Hala Ayala, Mark Herring, and gun sense candidates for House of Delegates, including Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office. Events will be held in Virginia Beach, outside of Richmond, and across Northern Virginia and will each be followed by canvassing by local Moms Demand Action volunteers.
Everytown also today unveiled its priority list of House of Delegates districts for this election and endorsed Debra Gardner (HD-27), Josh Cole (HD-28), Dan Helmer (HD-40), Michelle Maldonado (HD-50), Briana Sewell (HD-51), Lashrecse Aird (HD-63), Katie Sponsler (HD-66), Schuyler VanValkenburg (HD-72), Rodney Willett (HD-73), Jeffrey Feld (HD-81), Nancy Guy (HD-83), and Alex Askew (HD-85).
Everytown for Gun Safety has invested millions in Virginia in recent years – outspending the NRA by 4:1 in 2019, when the House of Delegates and state Senate both flipped to gun sense majorities for the first time in nearly 25 years. The General Assembly then passed a suite of gun safety reforms, including legislation to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and landmark legislation expanding background checks.
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